Hall Of Famer? I've been thinking of what current Cowboys players had potential to be Hall of Famers when it's all said and done, and Ware and Witten are the only ones that came to mind. I'm one of those picky fans who believes you have to be absolutely dominant at your respected position for an extended period of time to even be considered a HOF candidate. Right now I believe Ware is a lock, but what about Witten. He definitely has the credentials (7 Pro Bowls and 5 All-Pros) but has he really set the league a blaze like Gates and Gonzalez did in their prime?

Don't get me wrong, I love the guy. He does everything right, produces and keeps his mouth shut, but I have him as fringe Hall of Famer right now. Of course he is only 29 at the moment, so he has at least 5-6 years great years left in him. Thoughts?

He has set the league a blaze like Gonzalez and Gates. He and Gates have pretty much the same numbers unless Gates' injuries have slowed him down a bit since I last checked. If you look at Gonzalez' numbers they were about the same where Jason's are now. Of course Gonzalez has some unreal longevity, so maybe Jason won't catch up with him, but he'll probably pass Michael Irvin in terms of catches within the next few years.

__________________
"If you have one finger pointing at somebody, you have three pointing towards yourself."
~Nigerian Proverb

I think my name says it all in terms of my feelings. Yes, I agree he isn't a freak athlete like Gates and Gonzo. They were the first wave "hybrid" TE's and are adaptations to high powered passing offenses. Jason Witten is pure throw back, he will give you the production of these new TE / WR hybrids but is probably the best blocking TE in the league as well. I think this has to be accounted for when his name comes up in discussion. The next 4-5 years will do a lot to improve his chances as a first ballot HOF, as of now I think he gets in regardless.

My post in the potential HOF thread in the nfl forum a few months ago:

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetSox17

To bf_51, i see on multiple posts you left out Jason Witten, yet put in Antonio Gates. Aside from the touchdowns (Gates has 69, Witten has 38), Witten has more catches (648 to 537) and more yards (7,381 to 7,079). He has been to the same amount of Pro Bowls (7), and they've both been named All-Pro five times.

When you take the recognition factor into the equation and the fact that he played for the Dallas Cowboys, how is his career resume any different than Gates', and why shouldn't he be considered a HoF caliber guy when he has been a top two TE since his entry into the league? At the pace that he is going, he will probably retire with a lot of the All-Time TE records, and he already has Gates (who many consider a lock, or close to a lock) beat in many categories. I just wanna know if it's an honest mistake in overlooking his resume, or if you have some kind of explanation why you don't think he's HoF worthy.

Ware if he continues his pace will easily be a first ballot. I would predict that within the next year or two he'll be the only player in NFL history with multiple 20+ sack seasons. He is 29th on the all-time sack list (in 7 seasons...). In the last 4 seasons including games limited to injuries he's averaging 16.5 a year. At that pace he will be 3rd on the sack list in 4 seasons.

I think he needs probably 3-4 more solid productive seasons to make it as a first ballot HOF'er. Just look at Shannon Sharpe, he didn't make it on the first try and he had over 10k yards and 69 TD's. I believe Witten is only at around 8k and 41 TD's. I think he'll make it, just needs a few more solid seasons under his belt.